Project description:Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is sensitive to drought stress, which largely affects its transplantation survival rate, fruit yield and quality. Abscisic acid (ABA) treatment can reduce the drought-induced adverse impacts on plants. However, no studies have ever applied ABA as an exogenous supply to alleviate the drought stress on pomegranates. In this study, we performed comparative transcriptome analysis between the ABA-treated and untreated pomegranates to reveal the ABA-induced mechanisms in response to drought-stress. Our results showed that exogenous ABA application substantially enhanced pomegranate drought resistance by strengthening metabolic pathways, such as BRs synthesis, peroxisome biogenesis, photosynthesis and hemicelluloses synthesis. Furthermore, treatments with different ABA concentrations may provoke different transcriptional responses and, once the concentration exceeds the optimal (60 μM), it might induce some potential adverse impacts on plant growth and stress resistance.
